


Visiting Hours

by gladdecease



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Community: au_bingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-29
Updated: 2011-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-21 22:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladdecease/pseuds/gladdecease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara knocked on the frame of the open door to the teen room, smiling when her favorite patient turned to look at her.  "Did someone say my name?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visiting Hours

" - they're Doctor Hakoda's kids and they're really nice and a lot of fun! They volunteer during the summer and come visit on weekends sometimes, and Katara _promised_ she'd visit today, so I know at least she's coming."

Katara knocked on the frame of the open door to the teen room, smiling when her favorite patient turned to look at her. "Did someone say my name?" she asked, walking in.

"Katara!" Aang ran to her as best he could, pulling his IV stand after him.

"Careful," she said automatically. "We don't want to pull out your IV again."

Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right. Your dad got _really_ mad at me that time."

One of the room's other occupants coughed loudly. "Mind introducing us, Twinkles?" Katara didn't recognize the short, dark-haired girl, but it had been a few weeks since she'd last visited. Dad just refused to listen to her when midterms came around.

Aang jumped and turned to her. "Sorry, Toph, I forgot." Waving his hands from Katara to the girl, as well as the bandaged boy sulking in the corner, he said, "Katara, this is Toph and Zuko. They're new long-term residents! Zuko, Toph, this is Katara. I was just telling them about you and Sokka - "

"I heard," she said, smiling. "Sokka went down to visit Yue, but he'll be up soon."

"Great!" Sitting down next to Toph, he said, "You'll love Sokka. He's the funniest guy _ever_."

"Given your sense of humor, I kinda doubt that," Toph said flatly. She reached a hand out, nearly smacking Aang in the face a few times. "Come on, gimme something new." Smiling, he handed her a book, which she opened up and started running her hands over.

Because she was blind, Katara suddenly realized. The girl didn't act like most blind people she'd met - though admittedly a lot of them were very new to it at the time. Not Toph, though. No, she was definitely... experienced.

Toph made a face and shoved the book back at Aang. "I said no mushy stuff, Twinkletoes!"

He laughed. "Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to see your face when you figured it out."

As they got into a bit of a one-sided argument - Toph making snide remarks about "seeing" things, Aang offering her another book, Toph refusing it on account of his untrustworthiness, and so on - Katara walked around them and to the back of the room. It was nice to see Aang had made a friend who could stay around for more than a few hours. Sure, there was Teo, but he only came to visit after doctor's appointments or PT sessions. A long-term resident his own age would be good for him.

This other boy, though, hadn't made a sound while she was in hearing distance, and that worried her a little. She approached, winning smile in place, and sat down next to him when he didn't appear to object.

"Hi. Zuko, right?"

He grunted.

Well. That - that was... different. "I'm Katara," she said, pretending she hadn't heard the rude sound.

"I'm not deaf."

"What?" Still rude, but at least he was using actual words.

"I said, I'm not deaf. Unlike you, apparently," he added, giving her a bit of a glare. "Since Aang just said all that not five minutes ago."

Okay, moving into very rude territory here. "Well, _excuse me_ for wanting to make conversation!"

"Okay." With that, he went back to staring moodily out the window.

Katara barely resisted growling in frustration. Honestly, you tried to talk to a boy, and he acted like you were pulling teeth! The nerve. But, she reminded herself, she knew literally nothing about him but his name. She didn't even know why those bandages were there - if they were covering burns, or an infection, or if his eye was missing or something - so she couldn't possibly know why he was in a bad mood. Maybe he'd just woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Still, something about the way Aang and Toph hadn't reacted to their conversation made her suspect this wasn't a one-time deal. He was probably always moody, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to risk more rudeness - or worse, anger - just to sate her curiosity.

Sighing, she left him to his window staring and joined Aang and Toph by the door. She would wait for Sokka. He was probably around Zuko's age, and for all his faults her brother did have the ability to make conversation with absolutely anyone with remarkable ease. Even if it was only stuff about video games, or supermodels, or farting, depending on the age of the other conversationalist, talking was still talking. And inane conversation would be better than the rudeness Zuko had displayed to her.

Probably.

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "Other: Hospital" at [au_bingo](http://community.livejournal.com/au_bingo). My table is [here](http://community.livejournal.com/glad_fics/28814.html#cutid4).


End file.
